Twisted Equilibrium
by Cytrus
Summary: Two witches at the end of a world. If this is where everything falls apart, can something new also be born? BernxLambda. Spoiler-free.


AN: Warning, story includes Higurashi-esque content, which may be disturbing.

First BernxLambda story on this site, as far as I know. They're both scary and cute together. Does that make them scarily cute?

Tell me if I should write more for them

* * *

**Lambdadelta – the witch of certainty **

**who boasts the ability to divide any x indefinitely so that it becomes zero **

**and, by doing so, kill any person absolutely.**

Lambdadelta moved her piece, dismayed by the situation on the game board, but with entirely groundless confidence that it could give her her certain victory.

**Frederika Bernkastel – the witch of miracles**

**who commands over the ability to provide through repeated trial and error **

**an x meeting any conditions stated, **

**given that at least one such x exists, **

**and, by doing so, as long as the chance of success is not zero-**

Bernkastel responded without a second's hesitation, and her emotionless expression didn't change one bit as her newest piece claimed her victory.

"Checkmate."

At first, Lambdadelta seemed mostly surprised, as if the obvious move and obvious result it brought about were somehow incomprehensible. Not a few seconds later, however, a flurry of emotions colored the witch's face, revealing all she had invested into their game – all the times she had laughed, all the times she had clenched her fists in stubborn refusal to be overcome.

Those emotions all disappeared at once in what Bernkastel thought to be an explosion of anger. She soon felt she was mistaken, though, and her eyes moved slowly to confirm it had been her arm that literally exploded, dripping blood as she watched. She lost her breath. It wasn't because the sight shocked or frightened her, it was simply the technical issue of her lungs having collapsed, leaving a cavity where her ribcage should have been.

Her powerless body fell onto their game board, scattering the pieces. She supported herself with her remaining arm and raised her emotionless eyes to meet a pair brimming with tears and conflicting emotions.

Those eyes belonged to Lambdadelta, who was to bring about her death.

* * *

**to find

* * *

**

"Checkmate," Bernkastel declared indifferently as she claimed her victory.

The blonde girl sitting across from her appeared stunned. Bernkastel had no intention of letting her patiently sort out her feelings. The witch of miracles pushed away from the table and closed her eyes.

Her surroundings shifted. She flew far from her original world, passing billions of unfamiliar kakera on the way. There was no clear goal in her mind, no true purpose to this journey except to put distance between her and the other girl.

Bernkastel leapt out of the dimensional corridor. Before she could take a good look at her surroundings, an irregularity in her acquired momentum forced her on her knees. She turned her head to see that one of her feet was still stuck in the transparent wall of the corridor.

Slightly annoyed, she twisted her foot to get out. The wall shimmered, but didn't release its hold. Bernkastel frowned. And then it happened.

She lost her bearings. The world spun. Her head smashed into the ground. She didn't feel the impact. It was obliterated under the wave of more powerful sensations. An army of ants seemed to be traveling up her leg. But it was not the feeling of miniature appendages tickling her exposed skin.

Bernkastel felt the burning of her scratched chin soothe as it was submerged with liquid. It was not just her chin; the substance seeped into her clothes and moistened her body. It formed a puddle beneath her. In that crimson mirror of her own blood, the witch saw what happened.

Now she understood. The almost ticklish feeling was not of something moving on her flesh but of something burrowing into her, eating her insides, exposing the bloodied tissue underneath the skin. The imaginary creatures feasted upon her insides and emerged ever further up to tear more of her flesh off, to surrender those vulgar spoils to the force trapping her.

No, it was her body that had foolishly refused to give up. The dimensional vortex swirled behind her, swallowing its prey, and it had shattered and split apart her bones in an instant. But they were still connected – torn muscles extended from her open wound to the vortex, dripping red like strings of spaghetti with too much sauce-

* * *

**a desired**

**

* * *

**

"Checkmate," Bernkastel smashed the piece onto the game board with more force than she had intended. She did not care to apologize for the discourtesy "Admit defeat, Lambda."

It wouldn't work. Bernkastel didn't expect it to work in the first place. So when Lambdadelta's eyes flared with protest, she let go.

The game table wilted like a broken flower before Lambdadelta's frame could crash into it as a waterfall of magic energy swept through the entire area, mercilessly smashing everything in its path, intending to end their game for real this time around.

Bernkastel watched in displeasure as her strongest magic attack wrought its destruction. She knew, knew it without having to move her hands to feel the blood trickling from her mouth, that if it lasted long enough for her to observe like this, she was already dead.

A waterfall? Her magic fell to Lamdadelta's absolute power like cardboard torn apart by super-paper.

* * *

**miracle**

**

* * *

**

"Checkmate."

A miserable silence settled over them. It was a silence they had lived through a thousand times, even if only one of them retained the memory.

But it was over

It would end right now.

Bernkastel stood up from her seat, marched over to her unsuspecting opponent and grabbed the blonde girl by the collar, forcing her to stand as well.

The seed of anger was there, on Lambda's face, but Bernkastel would not let it bloom. She pulled the other girl closer. Their bodies connected. Bernkastel slipped both her arms behind Lambda's back, keeping her in place.

Lambdadelta, her cheeks tinted with a new shade of red, tried taking a step away from the witch of miracles. Before she could actually move, Bernkastel's feline tail wrapped itself around her bare leg, embarrassing her further and inducing a shiver to go down her spine.

With this, Bernkastel's encroachment was complete. Their faces were close enough for her to feel her captive's every breath, and in turn, Lambdadelta appeared to tremble each time Bernkastel expelled air.

Keeping the delicious distance, Bernkastel leisurely moved her lips to the blonde's ear.

"Thanks for letting me win, Lambda."

She was gone in the next instant, like a cat making its escape. Lambdadelta followed her escape with wide eyes.

Her back to the other witch, Bernkastel felt a smile invade her expressionless face as she burned her rival's bewildered expression into memory. Moreover, a whole five seconds after the incident, the witch of miracles was still alive and well.

"_So it wasn't impossible, after all."_

_

* * *

_

**without fail.**


End file.
